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Michael Gregson
Michael Gregson (b. 1879 or 1880 — d. 1922) was an editor and publisher for The Sketch, a society magazine based in London. He was the employer and lover of Lady Edith Crawley, and the late father of her only daughter, Marigold, of whom he would never know. Biography |-|Series 3= 1920 Michael wrote to Edith at least twice offering to give her her own column in his magazine sometime after a letter of hers promoting women's rights was published in a newspaper. Many in her family approved and encouraged her to accept, except her father, thinking Gregson just wanted to take advantage of her name and position. Nevertheless, Edith goes to London and meets with him. They later have lunch together at the Rules, where she chooses to accept his offer. An attraction develops between Michael and Edith. He flirts with her, and encourages her to speak her mind and make her own choices, insisting he is delighted to see a woman doing so. But he is already married. Edith is repulsed when she finds out and confronts him, insisting on handing in her resignation. He explains the situation to her: he loved his wife, Lizzy, very much, and that she was a wonderful person, but she has been in an asylum for years and no longer knows him. He professes that it took him a long time to accept she was "gone" and "wouldn't be coming back." He cannot divorce her because she cannot be held responsible for simply being a lunatic; she is neither guilty or innocentDivorce law in England 1857-1937. He tells Edith that she cannot imagine how much it cheers him to read her column, and to meet her when they do. He expresses to her his hope that she will stay on, which she does. 2011 Christmas Special Before the Crawley family leaves for Scotland in September 1921, Edith learns that Michael is taking a sketching and fishing holiday not far from Duneagle Castle at the same time. Mary immediately becomes suspicious of him. Edith and Michael then meet when he is invited to dinner at Duneagle, after Cora expresses her desire to meet him despite Robert's reservations. When Edith asks him the true reason why he came up to Scotland, he reveals he wants to get to know her family. He professes his love for her, his wish for her to be in his life and for himself to be in hers. He hoped if her family got to know him, it would be easier for them to be on his side. But she tells him she cannot see a happy ending with him, which visibly hurts him. Matthew invites Michael to accompany him to deer stalking and later fly fishing. Their conversations convince him of Gregson's deep love and honesty towards Edith. Michael, like Matthew, is a veteran of the Great War. Matthew tells Mary about his impression, but this does not sway her opinion of him. Both predict Gregson will propose. However, while fishing with Matthew, Michael reveals the secret of his insane wife and his inability to divorce her, revealing how upset and angry he is that the law cannot let him divorce. Matthew draws the line, finding the prospects of Michael's future liaison with Edith socially unacceptable. He effectively instructs him to put an end to his courtship and say good-bye to his sister-in-law. But when he does, Edith then reveals that it is not their last evening, that she does in fact love him. He seemingly happily consents, and they go dance together. |-|Series 4= 1922 Michael reunites with Edith at King's Cross for the first time since the family's holiday in Scotland, as she and the rest of her family had been in mourning for Matthew. They spend a great deal of time together in London. They attend parties (at one of which author Virginia Woolf attends), and later have some time alone with one another in Michael's flat. He almost shares his first kiss with her at a party, but they are interrupted. Later they do kiss when they dine at The Criterion. When Mary and Robert discuss Edith's trips to London to see Michael, Mary says of him that he's "not bad-looking, and he's still alive, which puts him two points ahead of most men of our generation", referring to the fact that so many men hers and Edith's age were killed during the war. Michael, determined to find a way to marry Edith, has been doing research since Scotland. He tells her he has learned that in some other countries, including Greece, Portugal, and even Germany, lunacy is grounds for divorce. He decides to change his citizenship to German (which he learns will enable him to divorce Lizzy) in spite of widespread prejudice in Britain against the Germans. When she questions him about how people will respond to his actions, he assures her he does not care what they think, as long as he has her love. Despite initial reservations that his situation would "frighten" Edith's family, he is also keen to earn her father's approval if he is to have a future with her. She herself is in love with him more than ever and also eager for her family to accept him even more. She cites that her mother likes him, and is certain her father will when he gets to know him. Michael does come to dine at Downton Abbey but Robert makes every attempt to avoid him, feeling his daughter could do better. Eventually, Michael does in fact begin to earn Lord Grantham's respect after saving him (in addition to Lord Gillingham and John Bullock) from a fix by Terence Sampson, to the point where he shakes Michael's hand the following morning. Edith then insists Michael return the IOU for the rest of the money he got from Sampson, which he does for her, but not him.a Edith visits Michael again when he prepares to leave for Munich in a week in order to finalize his change of citizenship and therefore take advance of Germany's divorce laws. He mentions a thought at maybe writing a novel while he is there. He does not say what his novel would be about, only that he always fancied himself a novelist but felt he never had time to write one. Michael has Edith sign a legal document giving her more control over his own assets while he is away, which includes power of attorney. He has also sent his help home. He and Edith start kissing passionately. They spend the night together. Unfortunately, once he leaves he does not contact Edith for a long time, and she begins to worry. Cora suspects he is busy. But it becomes apparent no one has heard from Michael, and no one has any idea where he has gone. The last time he was seen was when he went out for a walk at night after checking into his hotel in Munich. He did not return. His firm hires a private detective, but even they cannot find him. Edith's worries only worsen. Cora is certain they would have heard if something terrible had happened. Robert also expresses certainty that Michael is all right. Edith unfortunately becomes even more worried when she learns she is carrying Michael's child. But nevertheless her love for him does not wane. 2013 Christmas Special By the summer of 1923, Michael has still not been found, but Edith has learned that Michael "got into a fight with a gang of toughs" (he took a stand against things they were saying) on his first night in Munich, and goes on to say that they were quite well known and wore brown shirts.b She has given birth to his daughter, who was given up for adoption in Geneva. But Edith, knowing that Michael has given her power of attorney and that she might inherit all he has if he is confirmed dead, feels she must give something to the child. She also decides to go back and reclaim the child, then have her raised on a farm near Downton by Tim Drewe. Also, according to Sampson, many people have heard about Gregson's disappearance and that it is quite a mystery. |-|Series 5= 1924 By 1924, Michael still has not been found. His and Edith's daughter Marigold is being raised by the Drewe family, but Edith is finding it difficult to be away from her. Mrs Hughes discovers a misplaced German primer book among the others with Gregson's signature in the leaf fly. She at first considers giving it to Lady Grantham, but instead brings it directly to Edith, who asks her to leave it in her bedroom. Unfortunately, in her grief one night she throws the book too close to the fireplace, starting a fire upstairs which is put out before any significant damage is done. Robert later mentions to Cora that in all likelihood Gregson is dead. He even refers to him as Edith's "beloved". When Edith learns from Michael's office that they might be close to finding out what happened to Michael, she tells this to her father. He assures her it will be better to know the truth, while she says she does not want to let go of keeping him alive in her heart, which is only strengthened by not knowing for sure. After some time, Edith receives word that Gregson is not only dead, but has been so for some time. According to Robert, Michael was caught up Bierkeller Putsch, and was killed by Hitler's brownshirts. His remains were only recently found, as it had taken such a long time to restore order in the city. Robert also relates to Cora that Edith has inherited Gregson's publishing company (it is unknown if Edith inherited his money, home, and possessions too). Cora remarks on Michael's generosity, and Robert surmises they must have loved each other very much. When Edith accompanies Rose, Tom, and Mary on a luncheon before Rose's wedding, it is at the Rules, the very same restaurant where Edith had her first date with Michael. By this time, Cora has arranged for Edith to raise Marigold at Downton, and Robert figures out Marigold is Edith's daughter when he repeatedly sees a striking resemblance between her and Gregson. But he agrees to keep the secret at Cora's request and believes he will love his granddaughter. At Brancaster Castle, when Robert reveals to Edith that he knows who Marigold is, he also asserts his belief that Michael was an honorable man. Edith defends this belief, insisting she knows Michael would have married her as soon as he could. Robert kindly tells Edith then they must do what they can for his child, for Michael's sake as well as Edith's, leaving her deeply touched. Appearances Quotes Series 4 *"I've found out I can divorce Lizzy in Germany if I become a German citizen." *"I'd become an Eskimo if it meant I could marry you." - to Edith. (Episode 2) *"Would you hate me?" -to Edith about him becoming a German citizen (Episode 4) About Michael Gregson Series 4 * "I don't care. Kiss me." -Edith (Episode 2) * "Michael's vanished into thin air. Nobody's heard from him, nobody can reach him. I'd just to God he'd pick up the telephone."- Edith to Cora (Episode 5) * "I want to know what's happened. If he's trapped somewhere or falsely imprisoned or even dead." - Edith to Robert (Episode 6) * "It seems he got into a fight with gang of toughs the first night he was in Munich." -Edith to Rosamund (Episode 9) Series 5 * "Well, I suppose we all knew Mr Gregson was dead but the confirmation must have been very upsetting."- Violet to Cora (Episode 7) Series 6 * "I wish I could have know your Mr Gregson. Oh, we smiled at each other but we never really talked."- Rosamund (Episode 1) * "The taste is all Michael's. He was very artistic and very clever."- Edith to Bertie about her former lover's flat (Episode 4) * "This isn't just loyalty to Michael Gregson is it?"- Robert to Edith about Marigold (Episode 9) * "No. It's not about that. I loved Michael very much, but he's gone." (Episode 9) Behind the scenes *''The Sketch'' was a real high society magazine in Great Britain which ran from 1893 until 1959. In the real world, the editor of the magazine was Bruce Ingram (from 1905 to 1946). * In an interview in March 2014 Edwards said he did not know (at that time) if his character would return, but that Gregson would want to see his and Edith's child if he did. Notes *a The scene including the return of Sampson's IOU does not appear in the original ITV (UK) broadcast, but is included when broadcast by PBS (US). *b This is probably a reference to the SA or Sturmabteilung. * It is possible that Michael had no living relatives to take in Marigold following his death (as was the case with Charlie Parks and his grandparents). This is strengthened when Isobel asks if Marigold has any relatives and Robert replies that there are none they know of. References External Links * Charles Edwards Twinterview at Storify * Charles Edwards on Downton Abbey Buzz, His J-Law Moment & Learning From Angela Lansbury in London's Blithe Spirit at Broadway.com Gregson, Michael Gregson, Michael Gregson, Michael Category:Gregson family members Category:Deceased Characters Gregson, Michael